Food Allergies and Eczema

Janice - posted on 04/20/2009
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My 2 yrs old Alex is allergic to everything(eggs, milk, soy, tree nuts, and tomatoes) . All of his allergies are the basics of all foods out there and it is very hard to entirely remove all of these things from his diet. He has horrible eczema due to the side effects of his allergies. Is anyone else dealing with this, and if so what has worked for you in controlling the eczema. We have been to many Drs. including Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus.

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Kelly - posted on 10/17/2009

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Aveeno for Babies (for extra dry skin, EVEN eczema). Body wash and lotion. Two kids with eczema not a trace now. Tried all prescriptions, made it worse! When my youngest got really bad, I used baby oil right after baths. Doc gave me peanut oil.....uh NO, my oldest has a peanut allergy. Natural has worked best for us!!!

My son has a peanut allergy and eczema. There are several things we do to combat the eczema. I was using All free and clear detergent but have been making my own and it has helped. It is also tons cheaper to make. We use Dove sensitive skin soap, bath every other day, no fabric softne, use cetaphil lotion after bath time. If he has a major flare up then I mix togther equal parts hydrocortison cream and eucerin lotion and place it on the affected areas. We also have a topical steroid ointment that is used in rare occaions when we can't clear it up any other way.

Gosh..I feel you! My daughter since she was switched from breast milk to formula at 6 months old had lots of mucus. She would throw up in the middle of the night. Not knowing it was allergies, thinking it was a virus, stayed home with her, brought her to the dr. They didn't have a clue...She had tubes 2 in her ears...Such a roller coaster ride. I took her off of milk myself...It got better.. I switched stores to a green store (i can tell you about it if you'd like melaleuca.com/ps) it got better but didn't go away..I finally got the dr.s to test for allergies..it's the same as your child..i decided to quit my job...and take her out of daycare! Wow what a difference...Besides taking her off of all the things she was allergic to taking her out of daycare did it! She is now being put back on all the things one by one...and has not been sick since May....I know some people cannot quit work to take them out of childcare but for some it's worth it to change product stores and take them away from all the germs at daycare!

my 3 year old suffers from eczema due to her allergies also the best for us is to really try to combat it head on with keeping her out of the foods she can't have and to combat her other allergies with allergy medicines she has had this problem since she was 3 mo. she would even get infections and last year we found out about the allergies and we have had few bad outbreaks since. by controlling environmental factors also steroid creams are not as bad as some people say if used properly and not every day for weeks on end. Also as posted in others try controlling things like bath soaps and washing detergents it can really aggrivate the eczema.

I know exactly what you're going through. My son,almost 2 years old, is allergic to milk, eggs, peas, tree nuts, sesame seeds, shimp...pretty much everything! And we still aren't sure of what else... But he had really bad eczema when he was a baby(and still gets the occasional flair up). He would get so irritated that his poor little cheeks would become raw and seep to the point that it would almost get infected. I took him to an EXCELLENT dermatologist and he put him on a steroid cream and told me to buy this cream called CeraVe. This stuff is AMAZING! I put it on him every day and it keeps his rashes away. And I don't even have to use his steroids anymore. You can get it at any pharmacy or drug store but you will probably have to have them order it for you. It comes in a 16 oz tub and it cost like $16-$20. It is well worth it and it lasts a pretty long time. They also make bath wash too!

My daughter (2 mo) was starting to get a rash on her face. I put the cream on her twice a day and it was gone within 2 days! This stuff works! Hope you can get ahold of some.

I know I am late in responding to this but my daughter has 20 food allergies and 5 enviromental...So thats basically everything that has been posted and more. Her eczema came out when she was 10mnths old. She use to tear her skin of her arms and rub her knees raw at night. After a WIDE variety of topical and oral meds/steroids her current Doctor proposed a simple solution. Vaseline. I know it sounds weird but this is what I do. I have a perscription for Elidel and samples of Eucerin,all are specific for either dry skin or eczema. I purchase a good size bottle of vaseline make a hole in the middle squeeze in all of the topical ointments... and mix it togather. Every nite when she takes a bath I lather her down so she can shine and every morning before she puts her clothes on I do the same thing. By the time her Doctor saw her again she was so impressed with the results. It was as if she didnt have eczema just a whole lot of scaring that she will grow out of.That was 6 mnths ago and she is about to be 7 so I really went through a whole lot of stuff to get here and I totally understand where you and all of the other mothers are coming from. Unfortunately some of the allerigies bring the eczema back out so I have to be vigilant but I am thankful it is not as harmful as it use to be. I hope this helps...

You are not in an easy situation. My 5 year old was diagnosed with severe allergies when she was two because none of the creams the docs gave us helped her eczema. We got the food allergy test back and I was told it was wheat, eggs, corn and....one other. Wheat was off the chart so we cut that out completely. I didn't know how to feed her without one of the others being in the food so I alternated what she was allowed each week til I figured out what was the worst of the remaining allergies. They were all about the same so I started just regulating how much of each she got each week. Now at age 5, the only remaining food allergy is the wheat. She does have environmental allergies to our grass and dog saliva and cats. We don't have cats but we do have dogs. I have her wash if she gets licked and that keeps it down but I can't tell her that she CANNOT play outside!!!! That's just cruel. On a good note, she can go to my parents in PA and not have a single breakout from the grass there!!! She loves running barefoot at her pap paps. On another note: Atopaclair is a great rx med to help clear up the breakouts. Use a bit of antibiotic cream with pain killer cause it does burn a bit but not nearly as bad as other rx creams....and it's not a steriod!!!

My 2 yr old son had the same problem. He is allergic to eggs and peanut. Ever since he was a baby, he has horrible eczema. I started giving him anti-oxidant supplement when he was 1 yr. old. Three months after taken anti-oxidant, his skin cleared up and has not appear since. This anti-oxidant is very potent and all natural. My daughter started taking it since she was 3 year old for her asthma and she has no have a asthma attack for 2 years since. They loved the taste and easy to drink (taste like grade juice). Click on this link to check it out: http://www.marketamerica.com/istuff/inde...

This anti-oxidant does not work on food allergies but works wonderfully on environmental allergies. Best of Luck!!

You need to tackle the eczema on several fronts. You are already working on food allergies. But there are other environmental contributing factors that can also be making it worse. Here's what I have found works best for one of my twins (19 months) who has an egg allergy, asthma and eczema.

Laundry soaps and fabric softeners - try switching to one of the laundry soaps that are labeled as "free" - no colors, dyes or perfumes. Double rinse the laundry and NO fabric softener or dryer sheets - these leave a residue in your laundry which can irritate the skin making an eczema outbreak even worse.

Baths - warm baths, Eliminate regular soaps, bubble bath, . We recently switched to Spectro Eczema Cleanser for Kids (available in US and Canada). Check the eczema skin care aisle in your pharmacy for similar products. I 'occasionally' use the Aveeno Baby products but find the traditional 'kids marketed' products too harsh. You can use a teeny-tiny amount of bath oil (makes for a very slippery kid) (don't use bath beads containing oil as they usually have other irritants) (good old olive oil from the kitchen is fine). **** check ingredient lists as lots of shampoos & conditioners can contain common food ingredients like eggs, soy and nut oils ****

After bath - I prefer to use a product called Glaxal Base in both lotion or the heavier cream formula. It's just a plain cream or lotion. I also use a Dr prescribed hydrocortizone cream. I am to use the hydrocortizone cream for 10 days and then take a 4 day break. If the breakouts aren't too bad, I do a spot treatment with the hydrocortizone cream follow by a liberal application of the Glaxal Base cream. If it's a bad breakout, I take a small amount of the hydrocortizone cream and mix it with about a tablespoon or two of the Glaxal Base cream and then coat the body from neck to toes. Be cautious of applying the hydrocortizone cream to the face - always follow your Dr's directions.

I also find that his eczema was especially bad when he was first diagnosed with his Asthma. As we got his asthma under control, his eczema started to clear up. I continue with my regular regime of applying the Glaxal Base cream and lotion daily but I have only had to spot treat with the hydrocortizone cream occasionally.

If the eczema is really bad and not responding to home treatment, it should be checked by your Dr. It can become infected and may need antibiotic treatment before it will clear up.